Cons

Bottom Line

While the lack of macros and media keys is clearly felt, the Logitech G513 is still a sleek and attractive keyboard with a great set of switches that feel great to type on without waking up your cat

Feb. 21, 2019

If you’re familiar with my coverage of gaming peripherals, you’ll probably know I’m not the biggest fan of Logitech’s Romer-G switches. They always feel mushy and weird and have a very clunky tactile hump that makes key-travel feel a lot like an actual journey. While I’ve liked their keyboards fine overall, I always use them with the Romer-G stuff turned off if I can. Thankfully, with the G513 Carbon, Logitech has introduced a new version of Romer-G which eschews the aforementioned hump and replaces it with a more linear keypress.

Design

The G513 Carbon carries on Logitech’s trend of eschewing the ‘gamer’ aesthetic in favour of a sleeker, more minimalist design. So the Logitech G513 is a sort of carbon-fibre coloured rectangle with raised keys and an exposed backplate. The big difference this time is that there is a palm rest (hallelujah!) Too many gaming keyboards out there don’t have palm rests so I’m really glad to see Logitech is jumping in with their own.

Logitech’s approach is different from, say, the Razer Huntsman Elite, in that the palm rest doesn’t attach to the keyboard in any way. This might initially look like a bad idea but it’s actually a much better option overall. While the palm rest itself is immensely comfortable, with a plastic frame, and padded all the way to the edges, the fact that it doesn’t attach to the keyboard means you can move it around, or keep it at an angle or a distance from the keyboard. This is a great option for people like me who have large hands that run the risk of having their palms overreach the extent of the rest. Well played there, Logitech!

The problem here is a complete lack of media keys. The Logitech G613 has dedicated volume rocker along with six macro keys on the left (another thing the G513 lacks), so you’ll have to rely on double-mapped function keys if you want to control or mute the volume using this keyboard. This isn’t a dealbreaker by any measure but a lack of dedicated media keys in a gaming keyboard in 2019 feels like a terrible missed opportunity.

Performance

As mentioned earlier, I was never the biggest fan of Romer-G. The tactile bump modeled after the Cherry MX Brown is something I find actively unpleasant to use. While that opinion hasn’t really changed all that much, I’ve always wanted Logitech to offer an alternative to people like me since keyboard switches are never a one size fits all kind of deal. Some people like them clicky, some like it smooth, and you can never really please everyone with every product. It’s why Razer, for example, has many different types of switches in their different products, that all have varied feel and responsiveness.

Thankfully, Logitech has implemented two variants in the G513, the Romer-G Linear and Romer-G Tactile, the latter being the original design. The former is what really makes this keyboard work for me, and is the reason this might be my go-to gaming keyboard for the forseeable future. With a 1.5mm actuation point, Romer-G linear mimics the Cherry MX Red after a fashion. Romer-G Linear still has a slightly shallower actuation and a shorter travel but overall it’s a very similar feel. It feels crisp and responsive like any great mechanical keyboard should. In my two weeks with the product, keypresses have been consistently smooth and devoid of the soupy texture I’ve come to expect from Romer-G.

What impresses me the most is that Logitech has achieved this without significantly altering the fundamental design of Romer-G. If you pop off one of the keycaps, you will see the same center-inset LED with four prongs that Logitech G keyboards have been using for a while now. This means every key has even and bright LED lighting. Making the LEDs centered means lighting is spread across the entire key, even the sides. This is particularly helpful since, as we mentioned, some of the function keys are double-mapped so it’s always great to have all functions lit instead of the just primary (you’ll be surprised how many keyboards mess this up).

Verdict

The G513 is an excellent mechanical keyboard that combines a Romer-G I can finally get behind with Logitech’s ongoing affinity for minimalist visual design and an immensely comfortable palm rest. It’s also weirdly quiet for a mechanical keyboard without compromising on key quality, which is particularly impressive. Needless to say, if you’re on the market for a decent gaming keyboard with a lean, professional look, this is the one for you - as long as you’re okay with the lack of dedicated media keys and macros.